In the News

Kan. House Committee Approves Sweeping Abortion Bill

Kan. House Committee Approves Sweeping Abortion Bill

March 11, 2013 — The Kansas House Federal and State Affairs Committee on Thursday approved a broad antiabortion-rights bill (HB 2253) with several provisions aimed at restricting access to the procedure, the Lawrence Journal-World/Kansas City Kansan reports (Rothschild, Lawrence Journal-World/Kansas City Kansan, 3/8).

HB 2253 would rewrite state tax laws to prevent groups that provide abortions from receiving tax exemptions or credits that other not-for-profit groups and health care providers receive. The measure also would prohibit women who have received an abortion from claiming the medical procedure as a tax deduction.

The bill would specify what information doctors must provide women before an abortion, and it would bolster a state law that bans residents at the state's medical school from performing abortions on state time. In addition, the measure would declare that life begins "at fertilization" and that "unborn children have interests in life, health and well-being that should be protected" (Hanna, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/7).

Sex Education Dispute

Much of the debate on Thursday focused on one of the bill's provisions that would prevent groups that provide abortions from providing sex education materials for public schools (Lawrence Journal-World, 3/8).

Video Round Up

N.C. Gov. To Break Campaign Promise on Abortion Bills

AP/ABC News 11's Ed Crump discusses how North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) will break his campaign pledge to not sign any abortion restrictions if he signs a 72-hour mandatory delay bill into law. Watch the video

Datapoints

See where states rank on reproductive rights across the U.S. Plus, find out how states are imposing more restrictions on and limiting women's access to abortion. Read more

At A Glance

"Not since before Roe v. Wade has a law or court decision had the potential to devastate access to reproductive health care on such a sweeping scale."

— Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, on a ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld major portions of a Texas antiabortion-rights law. Read more